DU-Net-Cloud: a smart cloud-edge application with an attention mechanism and U-Net for remote sensing images and processing

Abstract

In recent ages, the use of deep learning approaches to extract ground object information from remote sensing high-resolution images has attracted extensive attention in many fields. Nevertheless, due to the high similarity of features between roads, prevailing deep learning semantic segmentation networks commonly demonstrate reduced continuity in road segmentation. Besides this, the role of advanced computing technologies including cloud and edge infrastructures has also become very important due to large number of images and their storage requirements. In order to better study the road details in images related to remote sensing, this paper suggests a road extraction technique which is basically founded on Dimensional U-Net (DU-Net) network. At the deepening level of the U-Net network, a parallel attention mechanism, known as ProCBAM, is added and implemented to the feature transmission step of the classical U-Net network. Moreover, we use and implement the edge-cloud architecture to develop and construct a unique remote sensing image service system that integrates several datacenters and their related edge infrastructure. In the proposed system, the edge network is primarily used for caching and distributing the processed remote sensing images, while the remote datacenter serves as the cloud platform and is responsible for the storage and processing of original remote sensing images. The results show that the proposed cloud enabled DU-Net model has achieved good performance in road segmentation. We observed that it can achieve improved road segmentation and resolve the issue of reduced continuity of road segmentation when compared with other state-of-the-art learning networks. Moreover, our empirical evaluations suggest that the proposed system not only distributes the workload of processing tasks across the edges but also achieves data efficiency among them, which enhances image processing efficiency and reduces data transmission costs.